When Sheffield Wednesday’s team news was announced there were few complaints about Darren Moore making eight changes to the team that won in League One at the weekend.
Quite the opposite: the replies to the club’s official feed simply pleaded for striker Lee Gregory not to get injured. After 44 minutes, Gregory limped from the field with a hamstring problem.
Those who made it to Hillsborough on Wednesday saw a truly wonderful goal by Dennis Adeniran and a cross for the second goal that was somehow better than his shot.
They also saw a cup upset, although Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland did meet in the League One play-offs less than three months ago.
Hopefully supporters left the stadium wowed by Adeniran’s accuracy. Some of them will have left muttering about their centre forward’s muscles.
This has been an interesting week for the EFL Cup. We typically use upsets as a barometer of a cup competition’s health, but critical mass theory probably comes into play.
Over the 14 ties between Championship clubs and those in lower divisions, the supposed underdogs qualified in 12 of them. That strikes as an extraordinary hit rate.
Stevenage winning at Reading, Morecambe knocking out Stoke and Newport winning at Luton were the standouts, but they were hardly alone.
Crowds witnessing those upsets have been a little sparse (although Norwich and Ipswich offered antidotes): just over 2,000 at MK Dons, under 5,000 at Blackpool, under 6,000 at Huddersfield, Bradford and Bolton.
Clubs have reduced prices for cup games, but there is an awful lot of football and disposable incomes have rarely been more under threat.
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At Hillsborough, the top half of the North Stand was empty. The Kop, usually a sea of shirts and noise, was closed. So too the top tier of the South Stand and the lower tier of the West Stand. Sunderland brought enough fans to make noise, but they too sold less than half of their allocation.
Before kick off, the traditional Hey Jude played as normal but it creates a better atmosphere when you can hear the fans over the music. There were 31,000 empty seats.
Perhaps the EFL Cup has been dented by the growing strength of the Premier League, whose finances have been affected far less by Covid-19.
As their comparative strength grows, and so does the depth of their squads, it can feel a little like your prize as a Championship club for progressing through two or three rounds is to lose heavily to a Big Six team.
No Championship club reached the quarter-finals last year. Sunderland, then in League One, did get there but then lost 5-1 to an Arsenal side that had made nine changes.
At Hillsborough, they barely got going, managed one shot on target and hardly ramped up any pressure in the final 15 minutes. Those who made the journey began to drift from the away end during the last 10.
You might also argue – with sound logic – that it makes for a far more fascinating second round. Premier League vs Championship can sometimes feel a little stale, but nine top-flight clubs must travel to grounds in Leagues One and Two in a fortnight’s time. Stockport vs Leicester, Fleetwood vs Everton, Tranmere vs Newcastle – these are Proper Cup Ties
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The easiest explanation is that Championship managers have never had it tougher. The unique scheduling of this domestic season means that second-tier clubs will break for almost a month in November and December and yet must still find room for 46 league games as normal.
They will be judged – and backed or sacked – on league form. In that context, you cannot blame them for seeing any cup fixture this season as a distraction.
This is nobody’s fault, or at least nobody in England. Fifa’s acceptance of a winter World Cup that was originally sold as a summer event has squeezed Championship clubs.
This is the only division in world football that will have as many league games and also break for several weeks; Leagues One and Two will continue during the World Cup.
There will always be great magic in a cup run. They can bring supporters closer to their club and they can often fuel excellent league form more than they can hamper it (Nottingham Forest last season are an excellent example of that).
But in this season of all seasons, when fatigue and burnout are a constant danger, something has to give. Blame Qatar, not the manager of your Championship club.
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